Does Salary Band Transparency Hurt or Help Application Submission Rate?

Salary bands communicate a pay range for a specific role. The range reflects elements like years of experience, cost of living and management level. While company culture, flexible work hours and lunch programs are rising in importance for top talent while job searching, nearly seven in ten (68%) say that salary and compensation are among their top considerations before accepting a job, according to a Glassdoor study. It’s inevitable that during the application and interview process, compensation questions will come up. On one hand, giving this kind of information upfront can help filter out the wrong applicants before they even apply, saving your recruiting team time. On the other hand, sharing the salary band in the job description can reduce the number of people you get through your doors to interview, if they’re deterred by the salary range. Below we share some stats, new changes and perspectives from the industry to help you decide if sharing salary band on your next job description is the right move for you.

New Glassdoor Features Could Set Transparent Pay Band Standards

As of November 15th, Glassdoor’s unique pay data provided by employees will be included in many job search results on Google. Their announcement explained that “Facebook software engineers have reported on Glassdoor that they earn a median base salary of approximately $127,000. So when a job seeker searches open jobs for software engineers at Facebook, it’s likely they will see Glassdoor pay data alongside the open roles.” As one of the biggest hiring and recruiting sites out there—they will inevitably set a precedence that other job search sites will follow.

The Impact on Application Rates

Communicating pay band in the job application process allows applicants to be more informed during the job search process, weeding out potential candidates who don’t fit the job’s pay band, leading to higher-quality applicants. Glassdoor’s research unveiled that 98% of american job seekers think it would be helpful to see pay ranges in job listings. So while you may receive fewer applicants, those applicants who do apply will be a better fit for the role right out of the gate—because of an already-established match in pay expectations.

What Else to Consider

If you’re not yet ready to communicate salary bands on your job applications, but you want to be more transparent about compensation, including your company’s pay philosophy is a great place to start. Do you evaluate salaries every six months? Do you offer quarterly bonuses based on performance? Communicating how job proficiency is evaluated and when opportunities for salary increases happen can entice new applicants. If you’re a startup or small business that doesn’t yet have a pay philosophy, think about what you could establish to attract top talent and increase salary transparency in the application process.

We created a guide to establishing your Employer Brand—including how to create policies around compensation that match your values—so you can help refine and improve how you communicate to new applicants, getting you higher-quality hires that are a better match for your company.